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| Besti kennari i heimi the best canary in the world |
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| fly paper |
Organic gardening is cheap, easy, and healthy.
The premise is to not use chemicals. Therefore
you won't be buying Roundup, Miracle Grow, and pre-mixed soil bags.
You need an area that has sunshine and access
to a water outlet. Gardening is the best teacher in the world.
Raised beds are not necessary and may hinder you from
starting the overall project.
Draw out your pathways and planting areas.
Locate a spot away from, but not so far as to be
time consuming to access the house for a compost pile.
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| flower bed |
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| Iceland wildflowers |
Raised beds are not necessary and may hinder you from
starting the overall project.
Draw out your pathways and planting areas.
Locate a spot away from, but not so far as to be time consuming to access the house for a compost pile.
Composting will build years of healthy soil for the
future. A four foot long piece of chicken wire tied
together and put on its side as a bin directly on on
ground is an easy start.
Find a local coffee shop that will save you buckets
of their used grinds. Save your vegetable and fruit
trimmings, add cut lawn that is not chemically
treated, add thin layers of soil or dry leaves when you
have them. Think variety and used plants nothing
with meat, oil, or human waste goes in the pile.
If you have chicken manure, cow or goat or horse
manure these can be layered into the pile and allowed
to age as to not burn any tender seedlings.
See if you can find a local tree trimmer who grinds
up the trimmings. If you have space tree trimmers
often offer to dump a load for free, as they have to
pay fees to the dump. The wood chips will need to
age a minimum of six months to a year. Keep the pile
damp and covered with a tarp. In warm months the
pile will reduce in half. This aged mulch can be used in
your pathways or small amounts added to your compost
pile.
Pathways can be covered in used cardboard or ten sheets
of black and white used newsprint. Find materials without
colored ink, staples, tape which may add things to the
garden you don't want. The paper liner is then covered with
wood chip mulch of about three inches thick. This blacks
out weeds from growing and will save time in the long run and
add a neater look to the garden.
Planting areas should be narrow enough for you to reach
into the center.
Straight tree branches can be pounded into the bedding edges
and tied together with whatever string you have to allow
climbing vegetables and flowering vines to move towards the
sky and allow easy picking. Trellis made from branches also
provide a bit of shade for new plantings or bird netting can be added
to keep out bunnies, birds and chickens.
Loosen the soil in the beds. Add composted or aged manure
and break up the clods for planting your seeds. Soak the seeks
in little bowls in the house for a day to give them a nice wet
start.
Seeds can be traded for free, bought online in many
exchanges or if you must buy the picture packet varieties
avoid the GMO monkeyed with ones as you will want to
save the seeds for next year and Monsanto makes sure the
genetic makeup of their seeds can't be saved and reused for free
Caroline Gerardo
copyright April 26, 2018
